The Final Piece of The ELT Puzzle: Tools

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  Hello everyone! Long time no see, however; I returned here with great tools which you can integrate your lessons. Today, I will introduce you one of them, Microsoft Office Publisher, which my classmate Hatice and I presented in the class.
  Microsoft Office Publisher is a  tool which enables its users create numerous publications by means of templates. From brochures to newsletters, you can enhance your creativity by preparing many simple yet useful projects. Then, let's explore the tool in details: Firstly, when you open Publisher, it offers a menu with many templates: calendars, greeting cards, flyers so and so forth.

  After selecting your template, you can decide among many options according to your task. If you want specific colors or text font, you can change them on menu which is at the right side. Once you have finished this part, click on create.

  On this page, everything is divided into tabs which make easier for you to find what you are looking for. Home menu enables you change the font, font size, text color. You can make selected text bold or you can italicize or underline it. You can also align text to center, left, right or both left and right margins.

  From insert menu, users can give a magic touch to their publication. It allows you insert images, clip arts, tables, ready-made shapes, decorative texts, current date & time, text boxes and so on. 

  Page Design tab give a chance to change your template completely without loosing your existing content or your publication's color or font.

  What I see as a great feature is mailings tab that lets you share your publication at once with your friends or colleagues. Create a recipient list or use existing one if you have, then just click on send without any problem.

  When you click on one particular image or text box, there will be appeared new tabs like drawing tools, picture tools or text box tools at the top. These all have simple touches that make your publication more splendid and different. Finally, you can print your product or send as PDF or XPS from the file tab easily.

  When it comes to products we prepared with this tool, we created lots of publications. I attached some of them below.

How this tool can be used in language teaching?

• Students can be given a task which includes creating a brochure about their city. They will add photos, clip arts etc. and write a short introduction to the city and the most important places (2 or 3) to visit in the city.
• Students can create a friendship greeting card. They will add photos with their best friend. Then, they will write the meaning of true friendship in briefly. They will publish it and give their best friend.
• Students can be asked for creating a mother's day/father's day greeting card. They will write their message and insert photos with their mother/father.
• Students can prepare a short restaurant menu. Then, they will choose food they want to cook and show how to prepare it in a video as a demonstration process in the target language. Thus, they will reinforce their knowledge about words like foods, desserts, prices or they will learn new words including vegetables, fruit etc. As a teacher, you can easily evaluate their pronunciation in the target language.
• Students can also prepare a flyer. They will watch a movie or go to the theater and add photos of the movie/theater and write stars, plot, genre etc. in briefly.
• As a teacher, you can create reminders with greeting cards. You will write weekly or monthly homework & assignments lest students make excuses like "I did not know the homework", "I was absent on that day". Then, publish it and hang it on the wall of the classroom.
• Additionally, as a teacher you can prepare a classroom newsletter so that parents will be informed about what their children do in class. Thanks to newsletters, parents and teachers can contact easily and this cooperation will affect students' performances or behaviors positively.

  All in all, Microsoft Office Publisher is really easy to use and prepare useful and enjoyable products for both students and teachers. It has many affordances which provide opportunity for student - centered lessons. On the one hand, students will learn grammar topics, vocabularies or general knowledge & cultural things; on the other hand, they will participate activities effectively and enjoy. While nearly everyone have an easy access to this program, why not try it? It's worth to give a chance, believe me.

 Do you think how this tool can be integrated to ELT over and above my suggestions? Are you using tools for improving your lessons, and if so, what are they? Please leave a comment below. See you!